


Does "Stupidly Strong Crush" Count as an Emotion?

by FluffyLlamacorn



Series: Person of the Year-verse [2]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-19 18:50:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5977407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyLlamacorn/pseuds/FluffyLlamacorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A simple question gives Tommy plenty to think about and that is just NOT fair. There's a reason he says he doesn't have emotions. It's so he doesn't have to deal with them. But apparently SOMEONE didn't send that memo to whatever creates them. Uncool.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in the same universe as my last fic, though you don't need to read that to get it.

"Hey, David, what are you doing for Valentine's Day?" Billy asked one afternoon in late January.

David raised an eyebrow because they usually didn't just ask each other random questions like that and Tommy rolled his eyes because he knew exactly why Billy would ask something like that.

"I don't know, I'll probably just stay home with a good book," David answered. "I don't really put a lot of stock in Valentine's Day. It's a holiday that was mainly invented for commercial reasons."

"David, you can't mean that," Tommy said with shock in his voice.

"You don't mean _you_ care about Valentine's Day, do you?" David challenged, his lack of belief clear in his voice.

"Of course I do!" Tommy grinned. "The bars are full of single people looking for action and there'll be loads of chocolate on sale afterwards."

"Of course," David said, looking almost relieved. "I should have figured."

"Hey, you should join me if you don't have plans, it'll be fun," Tommy offered. David was fun and the _least_ Tommy could do after the whole saving his life probably deal was to be a good wing man.

"Doesn't sound like my scene, but thanks for the offer," David smiled.

Billy was staring weirdly between the two of them like something was confusing him and it was getting kinda annoying. "What's wrong now?" Tommy asked.

"Well, it's just- I mean, I figured you-"

"Wait, I get it," Tommy interrupted. "You're wondering why we haven't asked about your plans yet."

"Well, since you're _asking_ ," Billy grinned, his eyes lighting up like Christmas lights.

"I'm really not," Tommy scoffed. Then, directed at David, he added, "He does this thing with Teddy where they do the most overromantic and PDA filled thing ever every year for Valentine's. It's so ridiculous it could give someone diabetes just by looking."

"That sounds nice," David told Billy and Tommy rolled his eyes. Of course the nerds were teaming up.

"It's kinda the best day of the year," Billy admitted with that lovey dovey tone he used when he talked about sappy stuff. "Except, you know, every other day I get to share with Teddy."

"Wow, I'm just gonna leave before I have to listen to all of this again," Tommy announced.

"You _do_ realize we do different things every year, right?" Billy asked before Tommy got too far.

"I don't give a shit," Tommy noted before turning a corner and getting away from their gossip.

***

Later, Tommy decided to blame Billy and that completely random question, because _really_ , why was he expecting either of them to have more complicated Valentine's plans that Tommy's usual? Really. He could have created an opening for talking about his own plans in some other way. That had been silly, but the worst part of it was that it had gotten Tommy to think about stuff and there was a reason he usually left thinking to smart people like David.

Specifically he had thought about taking David out clubbing and being his wing man. More specifically, he had realized that he really hated that thought? Which was silly, because what could he have against it except the fact that David probably didn't need a wing man? The fact that the girls - and the boys, because David did also like boys - would throw themselves at him just made his job easier and that was a good thing.

Whatever. Didn't matter.

He still hated it.

Tommy had a strict policy when it came to emotions that he didn't understand: Ignore them and hope they disappear. Which is what he should have done. He shouldn't have kept thinking about it, prodding and poking it, trying to get it to make sense. That's the way emotions get a foothold and take over your life.

Case in point, Tommy realized about a week later that he had fallen completely in love with David and he was pretty sure he could blame it on Billy's stupid question. If it hadn't been for that stupid question, Tommy would never have realized he was getting jealous of hypothetical people wanting a piece of David and if he had never realized that, he would never have realized that he did too.

But whatever. It was alright. Sure, Tommy had a crush (a super strong crush), but he knew how to handle crushes. He started flirting properly and not just his natural level of teasing. He would get it out of the system and move on.

Except, uhm, David didn't seem to notice. He just went on as always. Sure, he seemed to like it when Tommy put his arm around him and teased him horribly and made super suggestive jokes, but he never _responded_. He never flirted back.

Obviously that meant he wasn't interested.

Or maybe it just meant Tommy had lost his touch.

That was pretty bad too, but at least it was easier and safer to test, so he went to a bar and tried to pick up the hottest people he could find. It... didn't go too well. He got to grope a girl and kiss a guy, but he was too distracted by that freaking _crush_ of his that he couldn't focus on flirting properly and he didn't get further with any of them. Not a great day. But he had a feeling that if he could just have focused on the moment he could have scored one or the other, so it couldn't be that he had forgotten how to flirt completely.

Shit.

And that was the story of how Tommy ended up with his face into his pillow, wanting nothing more than to disappear into nothingness. Instead he called Kate. She was the closest he had to an ex-girlfriend and she was great and smart and good friends with David.

She picked it up on the third ring. "Hey Tommy."

"Tell me I'm still smooth, Kate," Tommy asked her.

"Is this about your crush on David?" Kate asked.

"ARgh!" Tommy groaned as he turned around. Lying on his back, he had a good view of his super boring ceiling. It was really boring and terrible for distracting himself from stuff. "Just how obvious am I?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure Noh-Varr has noticed, but to be fair, he has spent most of the time whining in his spaceship."

"His space ship is so cool, I gotta visit it sometime," Tommy told her. "Like, in proper space."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Great view," Kate agreed. "So you were complaining?"

"Yeah, you were telling me everyone but David has noticed I'm crushing hard on him," Tommy reminded her.

"What makes you think David hasn't noticed?" Tommy could practically hear her furrowed brow.

"He better not have."

"Why not? What would be so wrong with that?"

"Because he hasn't made a move," Tommy heard himself say. Shit, was it really that simple? "And if he knows and he hasn’t made a move, that means he isn't interested. But, I mean, David is great and amazing," he continued as he realized something. "He would turn me down easy if he knew and wasn't interested." That was a good thought. There was no chance David would be playing with his emotions on purpose.

Kate was silent, which was rare. She was probably fighting her desire to control everything that happened to her team with her desire to let them learn from their mistakes. "What makes you sure he hasn't made a move?"

"Well, I mean, there was that one kiss, but that doesn't even really count, because that was-"

"There's been a kiss?" Kate interrupted. She sounded surprised for the first time in the conversation.

"Well, yes, technically, but no, not really. It was... accidental and unintended and stopped immediately and-" A thought suddenly hit Tommy. He wasn't good at emotions, especially not his own, but Kate was amazing at everything. "How long have I been in love with him?"

"At least since New Years," Kate told him. He could hear the triumphant smirk in her voice. "You _are_ aware that your Person of the Year award is entirely a popularity contest, right?"

"Shit, then I shouldn't have-" If he had been in love with David when that weird kiss happened, then- But no, he hadn't known about his crush and that was it. It would just have been a random hook up and David deserved better than that. "Whatever. I'll figure something out."

"Right," Kate agreed. "Have fun tomorrow."

"What happens tomorrow?" Tommy had a tendency to forget what happened around him when something big caught his attention and this was definitely big.

"Valentine's Day."

Shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Tommy decided to try to sleep Valentine's Day away. He really didn't feel like trying to hook up with random strangers anymore, especially not when he had proof he would probably be distracted by thoughts of David while doing that.

Though, to be fair, when wasn't he these days?

He woke up at three in the afternoon and was too restless to stay in bed any longer. Wasting the day away on stupid reality TV didn't work out either and he was even desperate enough to try to keep active by cleaning his apartment and doing other responsible things. He wasn't sure he had done that since he came back.

He managed maybe five minutes before he gave in and went for a run.

He ended up at David's place. Of course.

Tommy stared at the door, trying to decide what to do. He could run away, go see some obscure place, thoughts of David only taking up small amounts of space. He could also knock and get it over with. David had mentioned he would be home, so... Tommy tried to listen closely if he could hear anything from the apartment. He could only pick up the bass lines from one of the neighbors, possibly several, but then again, David didn't make a lot of noise when he was home alone. He was usually reading some book with some old timey music on, just loud enough to set the mood, not enough to disturb others. Tommy held up a hand to knock on the door when he realized.

Oh god. He was about to confess his crush. On Valentine's Day.

When did he become such a _nerd?_

(The answer, to that question and to most other questions he asked himself these days, was David. Always David.)

He got his act together and knocked on the door, because being too chicken to confess was even lamer than confessing would be. He was rewarded by seeing David's face light up in a smile when he saw him and okay, maybe he actually did have a chance?

(Of course he had a chance, he was awesome.)

"I was hoping you might drop by before you went out," David said as he ushered Tommy in.

"Aw, you should have mentioned that," Tommy told him nonchalantly, hoping his sudden increase in heart beat wasn't too obvious. (David had wanted to see him. On a super romantic day. One he didn't care much about, but still!)

"I didn't want to pressure you into it," David shrugged. He had a lopsided smile on his lips. He had that a lot around Tommy and it really suited him.

"Anything for you," slipped out of Tommy's mouth before he had time to think. He considered pulling it back, but something changed in David's smile and it just grew deeper and more sincere.

Shit, Tommy was way too in love with this guy. It was dangerous.

"Uhm, I actually stopped by because I wanted to tell you something," Tommy admitted before he could get too wrapped up in everything else.

"Sure," David said easily, as he walked towards his fridge, already slipping into host mode. "Are you staying long enough for a drink or a snack?" It wasn't a question of how long it would take Tommy to finish it, but how long it would take David to get it ready.

"Uhm. Maybe?" It really depended on how David reacted to his confession. He might get kicked out. "Just a drink for now."

"Alright, sure," David said as he pulled Tommy's favorite soda out from his fridge. Okay, so maybe Tommy had picked it up himself, but that's just because it's an obscure one from Japan and there was no reason for David to pay a bunch for shipping when Tommy could get there in less than a minute. It had been David's idea for him to pick up some for his apartment, in any case, which was super sweet.

David handed him the soda in a glass after pouring a glass of weird juice for himself. "So what's up?"

"Well. That thing I wanted to tell you. It's kinda important," Tommy started. He really hadn't planned out how he wanted to explain any of this.

"Should I be worried?" David asked with an easy smile. He looked perfectly content, standing there, leaning over his kitchen counter drinking his fancy, extra-healthy juice.

"I... don't think so?" Tommy decided on. It wasn't a bad thing. Not unless he was really invested in keeping their relationship platonic.

"Then shoot."

"Okay," Tommy said. "Okay. Here I go. The thing is. I'm. Uhm." He had to hide his face in his hands to hide his blush. "I have no idea how to say this."

David laughed. "Wow," he just said, but it felt like there was a whole lot of other information in that laugh. It wasn't a mean or rude laugh, like so many Tommy had heard before. It was just amused and happy to be around him and Tommy felt like he could try again.

He dared to glance out through his fingers. He was still hidden, but he could see David's face clearly. That gave him the protection he needed to get the words out. "I super duper _like you_ like you," he managed. Maybe a bit more childish than he had intended, but it worked.

David's lovely, lovely smile grew wider and Tommy could see the tension leave his shoulders. That was a good sign.

But then that was all the reaction he got.

"Well?" Tommy asked as he slowly lowered his hands.

"Well, yeah?" David smiled warmly. "I mean... It’s nice and I do appreciate hearing it from you, but I guess I kind of thought we were beyond that stage?"

...

What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one today, because that cliffhanger was too good not to use. :P I'm gonna be focusing on Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week next week, but this fic might get an update if I can get one of the next scenes to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had a hard time getting the middle of the chapter to work. It's significantly less topical now, but the next chapter should come along faster than this one did.

"Man, Tommy is something else." Billy shook his head at his brother as he left him alone with David. He had given up on understanding him long ago. "So, you're... not spending Valentine's Day together?"

"Apparently not," David shrugged.

"But you _were_ expecting to?" Billy caught.

"I try not to expect anything when it comes to Tommy," David explained. "To be honest, I try not to expect specific paths from _any_ relationship, but I'm most conscious about it when it comes to Tommy."

"You sound like a relationship guru," Billy told him.

"I've got the knowledge of a couple of them floating around in my head," David admitted. "Did you want to tell me about your plans with Teddy?"

"Oh yes!" Billy grinned, attention completely redirected.

***

Tommy was trying to get David's attention through a rapid amount of dirty jokes. They were standing in line with the rest of the team for tickets to a small fair Billy and Teddy had invited them to after deciding that the team didn't do enough together that didn't involve either A) fighting for their life or B) pancakes. David just sighed and shook his head, trying to keep his amusement from showing too hard. There were too many small children around to encourage him, but he wouldn't be so into him if he didn't enjoy his humor to some extent.

When the jokes didn't work, Tommy draped himself over David, giving him all of his weight and wrapping his arms around him. "Daviiiiiid," he whined. "Pay attention to me."

"I am," David reassured him as he put his own arm around Tommy's back so he wouldn't fall when they had to move. "I doubt I could ignore you even if I tried."

"Don't you dare try," Tommy told him. He grinned at him and David smiled back, because really, Tommy was amazing.

The line wasn’t that slow for non-speedsters and before long they were inside. Even though it had been planned as a team activity, they soon found themselves in comfortable pairs. Tommy had dragged David off to get candy floss as soon as they agreed to split up, gotten himself a cone larger than his head and stuffed it in David's face several times. David obediently took bites from it as Tommy lead him around and let himself enjoy this thing so much closer to a proper date than he ever expected getting with Tommy.

It was almost a shame when they ran into Kate and America at the archery hut where Kate was hitting bullseye after bullseye, but not quite.

"Enjoying yourself?" America asked as they approached. She was watching Kate score ridiculous amounts of points with an appreciative smirk while holding a large, purple plushie in her arms.

" _Very_ much," Tommy said with a confident smirk as he leaned an elbow on David's shoulder, a pose that was slightly ruined by David being a bit taller than him. He gave David a dirty look that implied exactly what sort of enjoyment he was thinking about.

"Easy, tiger," David smirked. He sent a look back that told him to hold that thought until they would be alone later. Tommy looked like he didn’t want to wait.

America coughed some insult to get their attention.

"So, uhm, what is she winning?" David asked as he zoned back to reality.

"That hideous thing," America said, pointing at... A giant teddy bear sewed out of the American flag? It was gigantic, the craftsmanship was poor and America's description was extremely fitting.

"Wow," Tommy laughed.

"Are you that committed to your aesthetic?" David asked.

"It was her idea. I got her this thing," she nodded at the large, purple dog plushie she was holding "at the strong man game and she wanted to return the favor."

"Yeah, but is it worth it?"

America almost-shrugged, her movements limited by the plushie.

***

Kate hung up on Tommy after wrapping their conversation up and went back to the living room where she was playing poker with David and America. It was a nice tradition that had started after Kate had made a boast that America had taken her up on. David had remained unimpressed by either of them and obviously that meant they had to actually play to find out who was best. It was surprisingly even. David knew the strategies for playing both a good and a bad hand, but America had one hell of a poker face and Kate knew how to make money grow. She also tended to get a lucky break when she needed it most. They were a good challenge for each other, so they had turned it into an almost weekly thing.

"So what's this I hear about you and Tommy making out, David?" Kate asked as she entered the room.

David barely looked up from shuffling the cards. He always did it and seemed to have a new way of shuffling each time. "Making out is an overstatement and it was an accident anyway."

"Wow, that is _so_ not enough information," Kate told him as she sat down.

David hesitated only for a moment before explaining. "When I got him back... I mentioned I made out with the Patri-not, but I didn't mention that Tommy got inserted into the kiss after a moment. We pulled apart as soon as we realized what had happened, so while we've technically kissed, neither of us did it on purpose."

"When you made out with the Patri-not, was it still wearing the mask or did you get to see who it was?" America teased. "Could you feel a head through the mask? How did the fabric taste?"

"Why do you ask, Kate?" David asked to avoid answering those questions.

"I was just wondering how it goes with your moving slowly strategy," Kate shrugged.

"I didn't have that strategy yet, so not really," David said.

"Mm-hmm," Kate agreed. "David?"

"Yes?"

"You're some kind of genius, right?"

"Yes?"

"Are you aware that your plan for your love life relies entirely on Tommy Shepherd being in touch with his feelings?"

"Yes."

"I'm pretty sure that's stupid enough to demote you from genius status," Kate informed him.

David sighed. "Kate, we've been over this. I trust him."

"Yeah, I trust him to have my back during battle and a bunch of stuff," Kate agreed. "I just don't trust him to accept that he has emotions."

"And I do, so that's standstill," David told her.

"As the person who knows Tommy the least, I realize that my opinion isn't too relevant," America piped in, "But if that was your only kiss, I can see how he might miss that you're dating."

"Really?" David asked with an amused tone.

"If I hadn't seen him flirt so shamelessly with you in public, yeah. In any case Kate _did_ just come from a conversation with him and seems skeptical. You have to read between the lines sometimes," America explained.

"I'm reading between Tommy's lines," David said. "Besides, relationships don't need to follow a specific path. There's no one road a relationship needs to follow to be real . Sure, we haven't kissed that much, but we've done other things that mean just as much if not more."

"You're not spending Valentine's Day together," Kate pointed out.

"No," David agreed and Kate could tell he was getting annoyed at going over old arguments. "Because, as you know, Tommy doesn't like grand romantic gestures and I don't particularly care about the holiday anyway. Shall we continue with our game?"

"Sure, whatever," Kate sighed. "What are you doing tomorrow, America?"

"Punching bad guys in the head, probably," America shrugged. "You?"

"Staying at home, eating ice cream and chocolate and watching terrible movies. Unless Clint needs my help again."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned he got into trouble last year," America remembered.

"Let's just say I don't like Spider-Woman anymore," Kate agreed. "Like, she was well within her right to break up with him, but- Whatever, I've complained before. But yeah, I don't have a boyfriend and I'm not gonna see if Tommy's up for some fun this year, so I don't have any real plans."

"I do appreciate that," David noted as he handed out cards to them.

"I don't get you," America pointed out. "You're fine with Tommy getting it on with random strangers, but not with Kate? I mean, statistically speaking, Kate is probably objectively cooler than them."

"That's... part of the problem?" David admitted. "She's... Well..."

"You'd be worried I'd steal him away from you," Kate concluded.

"It's stupid and illogical and I shouldn't be, but yeah," David said. "I know logically that love isn't a finite resource and liking someone doesn't have to affect how much you like other people, but... it's still how I feel so I have to acknowledge that."

"You're even a nerd about being in love," Kate sighed as she finally picked up her cards.

"That is entirely accurate," David admitted.


	4. Chapter 4

David's response to Tommy's confession had been "Well, yeah".

Tommy's response to David's response was confused and silent staring.

"I mean, I appreciate hearing it, I really do, especially on a day like today, I just figured we didn't need to put words on it," David continued when Tommy just stared at him. He was still smiling like nothing was wrong.

Tommy just stared some more.

"As stupid as I think Valentine's Day is, I also can't help but be happy you're here with me today," David prompted. "Not that I don't appreciate it normally."

Tommy just stared some more.

He wasn't sure when was the last time he had stood still for so long, really. He was always tapping his foot or finger or something to keep from standing still. Actually, no, that wasn't entirely true. When he first got back from where ever he had been... He couldn't remember where he had been, if he'd even been anywhere else, but he felt a restlessness like he had been sitting tight all those weeks. That was one of the great things about getting back just in time for a New Year's party. He had needed so much dancing to get rid of that build up energy and it had been available to him.

David sighed, started moved closer and casually took one of the hands of Tommy, who didn't have enough understanding of the world around him to react. "What do I need to say to reach you?" he asked slowly. "That I  _like_ you like you too? Because I do. So, so much. But you knew that."

"Since when?" Tommy managed to splutter out. When was he supposed to learn that?

"Hmm," David considered his question. "I don't know. Slowly. Somewhere along the way I just realized that of course that's why I cared so much about getting you back."

"No, but... The other thing?" Tommy asked. He was starting to regain control of his speech, but he wasn't quite ready for full sentences.

David frowned. "Since when... you knew?"

"Yeah," Tommy managed.

"Isn't that more a question for you?" David wondered. "I mean... This stuff is too gradual to put a specific moment on generally."

"I didn't know," Tommy finally got out and David paused. He had been slowly moving closer, but stopped his movements while then, close enough to be intimate, but not so close it got uncomfortable.

"What do you mean you didn't know?" David demanded.

"I mean I didn't know," Tommy repeated. Now that he was getting back into the hang of speaking, he was quickly catching up.

This time it was David's turn to stare silently.

"I mean, I only _just_ figured out that _I_   like _you_ , when was I supposed to figure out that _you_ like _me_?" Tommy asked.

"But you've been _flirting_ _!_ " David insisted.

"And you haven't been flirting back!" Tommy countered back.

"What? Yes, I have?" David was looking more and more confused by the moment.

And oh. David hadn't started flirting back, because he had been flirting from the start.

Oh.

"Oh," Tommy just mumbled.

David took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I thought-"

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Tommy wondered.

"Because I thought you knew," David said. "You know how adults all love to tell you that when you meet The One, you just know?"

"Mmm?"

"That's just about the worst advice you can give to someone who's confused, because you don't start wondering without at least thinking that you know they might be the one," David continued. "But the thing is, once you know, you really _do_ know. You don't spend your time wondering whether or not this is the one, you just know. And I knew. So I figured you did too."

Tommy's throat felt dry. That was... That was too much. "That was _not_ the level of crush I came here to confess." It might be the level of crush he _felt_ , he honestly wasn't sure, but he definitely wasn't ready to say it out loud even if he had been sure. He took a step back, needed some distance.

"See, that's why I figured we weren't saying it out loud," David admitted. He sounded miserable, but let go of Tommy’s hand without complaint. "I didn't want to pressure you into anything."

"This is... This is too much," Tommy said, halfway to the door. "I gotta-"

"Sit down?" David offered. "Please don't run off."

All of Tommy's instincts told him to run far, far away, maybe relocate permanently to some other continent, anything he had to do to keep from ever thinking about this conversation again. But then he looked at David and saw how worried he looked and realized that he probably knew exactly what Tommy had been considering and realized how much it would hurt him.

So he stayed.

Because as little as he could get himself to work through emotional conversations, he was even less capable of purposefully hurting David. He'd probably end up doing it unintentionally loads of times, hell, he probably already had even if he wasn’t currently doing it, but he could promise himself not to do something he knew would hurt David.

So he let David sit him down in his couch.

And when David sat down in the other side of the couch, he sorta wanted him to sit right next to him so they could just... Not talk, maybe? Not talking sounded like a great idea.

"So," David said.

"So," Tommy repeated.

"So... How did you _not_ notice that we've been-"

"What _have_ we been?" Tommy interrupted. "I mean, you said you knew, but what did you know? That we liked each other? That we were dating? You're wordy enough to have had some word for it."

"I've... tried not to put any too specific or limiting descriptions on what we were," David admitted. "Partly because none of them really seemed to fit, but mainly because... because there's no one way to do a relationship. And that's what we have. A relationship. How platonic or romantic or sexual it is and how we want to express those parts of it is up to us. Too often, people try to find the One True Way of doing relationships and think there's no other way of doing it. I didn't... I couldn't see any sort of predefined route working out for us, so I figured we should make our own path."

"But..." Tommy insisted.

David sighed. "Well, in the situations where I couldn't just call you my... Tommy, I guess, I figured that significant other seemed most accurate and most vague."

"Isn't it just another word for boyfriend?" Tommy asked. He could feel a small blush on his cheeks.

"That might be how it's used, but that's not a part of the words," David told him. "The actual words just mean someone else than yourself who's significant to you. And... even if we decide to keep this entirely platonic and forget everything about romance, you would still be the most significant person in my life these days.

Tommy tried to look at David, meet the meaningful look he was sending him, but it was too much. He looked away. "I... think I'd like to kiss you."

"I would like that, too," David said, like it was no big deal. Probably wasn't, when he'd thought they'd been dating for...

"Uhm, how long have you thought we were... Or how long have we been...?" Tommy asked. How was he supposed to make significant other into a verb?

"I... thought I figured it out at New Years," David explained. "When you named me Person of the Year, something you hadn't done for anyone else, and then ran off to think about it. I thought that was you figuring it out and then you came back and we cuddled as much as we did before."

"I did... think about it," Tommy shared. "About why I chose you. Why I had to choose you, because, really, I had been so ready to only leave it at a nomination, but then... I don't think I could have gotten myself to say my own name. Back then, I just figured... Part of the reason why I always won, you know? That's because I sort of figured that... someone had to choose me, I guess? And if it had to be me, then so be it. So, really, the Person of the Year Award goes to the person who's looked out for me the best. And, when the choice is between the one who got me in trouble and the one who got me out of it, there's not really a question, is it?"

"Looking back, I sorta... I kind of assumed you might have been interested back when we first met?" David prompted.

"Well, you were hot and I was definitely considering going for something, but..." Tommy shrugged. He hadn't started crushing on David until he really started to know him. "I didn't realize I like you until recently, but, yeah, Kate says I liked you back then too."

"Kate knew about you not knowing?" David asked.

"I guess?" Tommy shrugged again. "I talked to her yesterday. She said everyone knew. She didn't say you knew."

David did a face palm. "Freaking Kate."

“Heh, yeah,” Tommy agreed.

There was a moment of quiet where neither knew what to ask. The moment had passed for that kiss they had discussed. (Wow, he had _really_ turned into a nerd, _discussing_ kisses instead of having them.)

"Why me?" Tommy asked.

"What?"

"Because, I mean, who wouldn't fall for you? You're smart and amazing and ridiculously loyal and hot and so many other things. I'm a mess. Why me?" Tommy asked.

There was something tender in the way David was looking at him and Tommy couldn't handle it, so he looked away.

"I worked that job for a year, Tommy," David said. "I don't think you realize how long that is to work at a call center while ignoring all of your friends. Then you turn up and three days later I'm packing my bags to go on a superhero adventure. You saved me from who knows how much longer of that hell."

"That's... just a coincidence," Tommy mumbled. "Anyone else could've..."

"Tommy, believe me when I say that no one else would both have been willing to reach out and able to reach me," David told him with certainty. "I mean, who works for a terrible temp agency like that for a year? I was at least as much of a mess as you."

Tommy hesitated. He had no doubt that David had been extremely unhappy when they had first met. But... "That still doesn't mean you owe me anything."

"No," David agreed. "But not owing you didn't stop me from falling in love with you."

"Can you... repeat that?" Tommy requested.

"I am in love with you, Tommy Shepherd," David told him in a clear voice. "And I don't need you to be. I honestly don't _want_ you to say anything you aren't sure about or feel uncomfortable saying."

It took Tommy a very long moment to catch how the sentence had ended, being so wrapped up in the beginning. "So, are we ignoring how uncomfortable I felt telling you that I like you?"

"No, true, clear and open communication is important," David admitted. "I just I don't want you feeling like you have to say or feel anything you don't, so…"

"I like you a lot," Tommy told him. He could say that. He wasn't ready to commit to large words, but those words were so true they became less scary.

David reached across the couch to grab Tommy's hand. Tommy wondered if this might be a suitable time for that kiss, but instead they just smiled at each other and that was nice too.

"But seriously, how does someone fall in love with me?" Tommy wondered out loud when he couldn't push the thought away any longer.

David gave his hand a squeeze. "My thought process started something like 'Sure, company for lunch can't hurt' to 'Well, _somebody_ has to get him back and I guess that somebody is me' to 'Wow, it's really been a while and I'm not even close to giving up on him' before finally settling on 'I'm slowly realizing I would do just about anything for him.'"

"Anything," Tommy breathed.

"I think so," David admitted.

"So when did you want that kiss?" Tommy asked and David laughed.

"I don't know, when do you think would be a good time?" he asked.

"Five minutes ago," Tommy told him as he started crawling down the couch to reach David.

"Hmm, is there even a point to it anymore, then?" David teased as he sat up straighter to lean towards Tommy.

"You talk too much," Tommy told him, their faces extremely close.

"So I've been told," David agreed.

Then their lips reached each other.

It wasn't the explosion Tommy had been expecting, but it wasn't like it wasn't anything special either. It felt right, like this had been what they were supposed to be doing all along. He had expected himself to speed up, but instead he found himself relaxing into the kiss, giving all he had of himself.

He could remember that first kiss at New Year's. It had only lasted for a second or two, but he had been slowing down and they had seemed longer to him. On top of that, it was the first sensation he had felt for several months. It had stuck with him, even before he had realized how great David was. This second kiss... on one hand it felt very similar, but on the other hand they were nothing alike. It was hard to explain, but the intentions behind the second one made it into so much more than a simple kiss.

It was over too soon.

"Do you want to watch a stupid movie while cuddling?" David offered as he pulled away.

"Does cuddling involve more kissing?" Tommy whined.

"Probably."

"Then I'm in."

***

They ended up watching several movies tangled up together on the couch. The movies were stupid teen movies that Tommy hadn't ever seen and that David had memorized because all of his classmates. (That was his excuse at least, though Tommy couldn't help but suspect otherwise.)

They had just started the third movie when Tommy got too restless to ignore it. Truthfully, he was surprised he had lasted _one_ movie, but it helped to have David close. He could pull him closer, kiss his neck until he giggled whenever he started to feel restless, but eventually that wasn't enough anymore.

"Are you alright?" David asked him, when he started vibrating slightly.

"Mmm," Tommy hummed. "Just restless, is all."

"Want to do something else?" David offered.

"Maybe?" Tommy would have shrugged if he didn't have his arms wrapped so tightly around David.

David put the movie on pause and sat up, which forced Tommy to let go of him. "Can I help?"

"No, it's just... I usually do more than hang around all day," Tommy explained. "Both normally and, you know..."

"What, on Valentine's?" David asked with a slight frown.

"I, uhm, I've had this tradition since I got out of prison to, uhm, to get some. On Valentine's." He usually didn't feel so embarrassed explaining that. Of course, he didn't usually explain it to his maybe-technically-been-dating-for-a-while-boyfriend.

David leaned in and placed a long kiss on his lips. Tommy held on to it for as long as he could, but even good things must end.

"I usually go a bit further than that," Tommy teased.

"Ah... Right," David muttered. "That makes sense."

"I mean, I don't need it, it just... It's kinda weird not to get anywhere after such a long streak," Tommy explained.

"You wouldn't call this anywhere?" David teased. He seemed less tense than a moment before.

"It's a different sort of anywhere," Tommy told him. "Surely you can tell?"

"Yeah, I guess that's fair."

"But, uhm..." Tommy started. "When you got all of that knowledge, did you get any...?"

"Yeah," David confirmed. "And a lot of it I wish I hadn't."

"Come on, what sort of sex knowledge wouldn't you want?" Tommy shrugged him off.

"Professor X' for one," David sighed.

"Please never share that unless Billy is around to be horrified," Tommy asked. "But, uhm, have you ever used any of that sex knowledge?"

" _Well_. Uhm. Well," David started. "That is to say-"

"You're a virgin," Tommy translated.

"Excuse me, I wasn't done stuttering," David told him. "Anyway, you asked if I've ever used any of the so called sex knowledge. Since I only got all of the knowledge permanently around the time my girlfriend and I broke up, which lead into my year of isolation before I found anyone else... No, not really. Whether or not I'm a virgin is a completely different question."

"You are," Tommy had concluded.

David glared at him.

"Hey, if you know, you know, wasn't that it?" Tommy shrugged.

"You're the worst," David groaned.

"True," Tommy grinned. "Now go on, you have a story you want to tell."

"Well, it's sort of a lack of story," David admitted. "There was this one time we thought we should try maybe getting started on the road to... something, but anyway, it, uhm."

"Did she laugh at your dick?" Tommy asked.

"No!" David told him resolutely. "It was more at... the general situation."

"I promise not to laugh at your dick," Tommy said.

"Thank you," David mumbled. "But anyway, then something blew up next door and we had to check out if everyone were alright."

"Wait, something blew up?" Tommy asked.

"I went to a boarding school for mutants," David shrugged. "It was a slow week if I only heard one explosion."

"So are you telling me all of this to explain why you aren't ready or to make sure I don't mess it up?" Tommy asked.

David hesitated. "Not tonight," he finally said.

"Sure," Tommy said as he got up from the couch. "But then I should probably burn off some energy on a run. Do we need anything? Some beer, soda, whatever?"

***

Tommy figured he just needed a short run, so he stuck to continental America. Everything was suddenly completely different from last time he had run off to burn energy, but things had only changed for the better.

Tommy ran past a specific store probably around ten times before he decided to get something. It felt stupid, but he kept coming back, so apparently he was stupid enough to get something. He just hoped the running at super speed wouldn't ruin them.

Which was why Tommy was able to announce his return by stuffing a huge bouquet of flowers in David's face.

"What?" was all he managed to hear before Tommy speed off to put the rest of his haul in the fridge.

When he was done with that, he turned around to see David inspecting the bouquet with a softness Tommy really didn't feel belonged to flowers. David must have realized he was staring, because he looked up and caught his eye. "Thanks."

Tommy shrugged. "It turns out I have a boyfriend. I figured I ought to give him a proper present."

"Well, he appreciates it very much," David told him. Tommy noticed a small blush creeping across his face with pride. "Boyfriend, huh?"

"I mean, if you want to," Tommy shrugged. "You were saying all those intelligent things about relationships, but I'm not sure I'm smart enough to get it."

"I like it," David confirmed as he placed the flowers in a vase he apparently had lying around. What sort of person had flower vases lying around? "As long as it doesn't mean we need to change what we have to fit the common mold."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Tommy asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's not suitable to save someone from a monster dressed as their old teammate until you've been dating for at least five months," David shrugged. "And I think it's too late to fix that."

 "Hmm, what does that mean for the rest of the team?" Tommy asked. "Some of them didn't even meet me until afterwards."

"See, that's the problem with having such a traditional view on relationships," David told him. "There's absolutely no flexibility."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the slow updates at the end. I felt sort of conflicted, because on one hand I don't want to spam the tag too much, but that's silly because it's not that I'm spamming, it's just that the tag is dead and that's terrible, so really I should update as soon as possible, but then I end up feeling like I'm spamming. So yeah. Conflicted feelings and stuff.
> 
> Anyway, we're just missing a super short epilogue, that should be up early next week and then it's onto new stories! :D


	5. Epilogue

The team had a weekly brunch meeting every Wednesday morning with lots and lots of pancakes. Tommy usually arrived moments away from being late because he could, so he might as well, but David had a thing about being on time and usually arrived early. However, in his calculations he did not think about the fact that Tommy was simply going to pick him up and run to the diner instead of using public transportation which meant they ended up arriving almost an entire hour before the official meeting time. This was early even for David.

Kate was the next one to arrive, around half an hour after them. "Hey guys, what's up?" she greeted happily to where they were sitting in their usual spot, talking about something. "Did you have fun in the weekend?"

David just sent her a _glare_. "You could have told me _what_ you two had been talking about."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Kate agreed as she took a seat. "Besides, if I wasn't telling Tommy, why should I tell you?"

David scoffed.

"So how did it go?" she asked Tommy instead.

"You are a terrible friend for implying I had anything to worry about," Tommy told her. "But I'm in a forgiving mood since I've got a boyfriend now."

"Now, that's the sort of status update I was looking for," Kate laughed. "Congratulations."

"You're paying for pancakes," David told her.

"I ought to do _something_ with all the money I won from you and America," Kate accepted easily. “Did you order yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With that I finish my first multi-chaptered fanfic! I am excited and thankful for the positive response. :D The next fic I'm planning on posting has more Thinkfast and Kate, two of my favorite things in the world.


End file.
